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7 December 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! Here we are, December has arrived, and we're all now hurtling rapidly towards the festive season. Does the clock speed up at this time of year or is it just me? Anyway, the latest Frilly and Funkie challenge, hosted by the amazing Kathy Clement, is called 'Home for the Holidays!' "Let's get ready to Deck the Halls by creating some home decor for the holiday season. You can make centrepieces, wreaths, banners, ornaments, wall hangings, or little vignettes... basically anything BUT a card for this challenge. If you don't celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, then just make some home decor with a wintry theme."

At the end of the challenge the team will choose their top four picks. Our first place winner will be invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie. Three additional talented participants will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and adheres to the challenge guidelines will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

Having been inspired by Tracy Evans' styling for her decorations this year (elegant, mercury glass ornaments, vintage inspired) I decided to feature my festive Idea-Ology stash in two altered jars with something of this look. The clean jars needed altering and ageing first up so I began by pouncing a mix of Mushroom Alcohol Ink and Gold Mixative around, removing some where I got over-enthusiastic! Next up the base and top were heat embossed with silver powder - have patience when heat embossing thick glass as it takes an age to warm up/melt/cool down! Finally I imperfectly (deliberately!) stamped the snowflakes from the Tim Holtz 'Scribble Woodland' stamp set in Brushed Pewter Distress Paint.

The inside 'snow scene' was created by layering Texture Paste and Distress Glitter (Linda still has a pot of my favourite Pumice Stone version left in stock - yay!) into which I sat Decorative Deer and Small Woodland Trees (sprayed in Iced Spruce Distress Stain Spray and covered in the same glitter). Around the top of the jar I tied a combo of Tinsel Twine, Christmas Jute String and burlap rope (Linda stocks some fabulous natural trims) before adding Christmas Word Keys, Typed Tokens and those fabulous Pinecones. You can also find multi-sized jump ring sets in stock at The Funkie Junkie Boutique which are fabulous value for money and leave you free to make up chains to any lengths you want.

I'm pleased to report the recipients of these vintage style jars liked them, even if they were so 'hot off the press' they required further drying time!!! At least the snow scenes inside will need no dusting and should be easy enough to pack away at the end of the festivities.

That's my contribution to the Design Team's inspiration for our 'Home for the Holidays!' challenge. Make sure you hop on over to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to see the other fabulous makes from my super talented teamies and find out what they've made to decorate their holiday homes, I'm sure you'll find plenty of inspiration so you'll be ready to join in the fun with us and of course be in with a chance to win!
For now take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

2 December 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! Today sees the launch of the latest challenge at A Vintage Journey called 'Winter Magic'. Our host for this challenge is the wonderful Deb Riddell. Here's what she has in mind for this theme; "For us in the northern hemisphere December brings the start of winter and for many that means freezing cold weather and Christmas. But winter is so much more than that and so we ask, how would you interpret the magic of winter? Snow, icicles, colours of blue, silver and white, the festivities of Christmas, misty winter landscapes; show us what your magical focus is for the season and in a vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journaling; industrial or steampunk style."

This month we are sponsored by Country View Crafts who have generously offered a £20 voucher to their online store for a randomly drawn winner. And three hand picked Pinworthies will be offered the chance of a guest appearance for a later challenge, so there's plenty of reasons to join in.

(click on each image for a closer look)

And now here's my own take on 'Winter Magic' - a canvas celebrating the magic that nature itself creates at this time of the year here in the UK. For me the beauty of this season extends beyond the sparkling lights, trees and tinsel. The last traces of fallen leaves caught beneath a snow/frost laden carpet, and revelation of weather-beaten structures, unburdened by much of the usual floral and fauna, are as magical as any festive decorations.

I started with the base of this deep edged canvas, randomly adding layers of Gathered Twigs, Hickory Smoke, Ground Espresso and Walnut Stain Distress Paints direct to the surface to get a look of dark soil. Next I applied a patchy layer of Texture Paste, leaving some of the 'soil' exposed on the edges, and stamped into it with the Tim Holtz 'Leaf Prints' stamps (mist them with water to ensure they release from the paste). When dry I restamped into the leaf impressions with the same brown shades of Distress Paint to make them stand out, and finally added a thin layer of white gesso to give the impression of frost on top of fallen leaves. With that the background was complete.

The colours mentioned by Deb in her description included blue, white and silver, and as luck would have it I picked up an old blue bottle at a vintage market in Retford recently. It still has the chips and grime of ages past, and with the addition of some Remnant Rubs (from the Elements set) a few dribbles of Ranger's Pearl Alcohol Ink Mixative, some twine and wire wrapping, and Tim's Festive Idea-Ology charms, it was the perfect match. Of course it would have looked weird just sitting in the middle of the canvas so I added chunks of canvas stretcher wood, dowsed in Iced Spruce Distress Paint, dripped with gesso, Pearl Mixative and Espresso Alcohol Ink, and stamped with numbers from the 'Sideshow' set in Cornflower Blue Archival Ink. Obligatory rusty nails, Idea-Ology Nail Heads, and a sentiment from the Small Talk Occasions set adorned the 'fence' beautifully but it also needed a few more leaves. To get that crunchy texture I quadruple embossed some card with Ranger's Snowflake Embossing Tinsel and stamped into it with one of the 'Leaf Prints' using Potting Soil Archival Ink. If you stamp and fussy cut the card first you get the perfect shape too.

So that's where this month's fabulous theme took me. Now I urge you to hop on over to A Vintage Journey to see what my fellow Creative Guides have come up with - it's well worth the visit! Then it's over to you - the challenge will remain open for a month so there's plenty of time to get those creative juices flowing and link up your entries to be in with a chance to win.

And how exciting! I've just discovered I won last month's top spot over at Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge #20 for my vintage lace/rusty canvas!!! Thank you so much to the team for awarding me this honour.

Off now for some Friday fun. Whatever you're up to take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

25 November 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! I've got some exciting news to share today!!! Recently I was contacted by Eileen Hull with an invitation to submit projects to a brand new e-book. The book, published by Bella Crafts Publishing, contains over 100 inspirational projects including over 40 step by step tutorials for flowers, books, boxes, gifts, layouts, cards, holiday projects and so much more. AND there's a gallery section with over 60 ideas for using Eileen's line of Sizzix dies from lots of your favourite designers.

The book - Die Cutting Magic, is published by Bella Crafts, who produce amazing quality e-books and on-line magazines, and it is being launched today - Black Friday. As a BF offer, the book is available for $2.97 (yes, really!) and will be available at this price until Midnight 28th November (Pacific Time). That is a whopping 77% discount off the normal price of $12.97 - which is still a bargain for a 165 page book, packed with over 60 ideas and step by steps to over 40 amazing projects!

Are you looking for ideas for projects from Clean and Simple (CAS) right through to Mixed Media, with full step by step instructions? Do you need something to kick start your mojo? It would make a great Christmas present for crafty family or friends, and we all need a treat ourselves don't we?!

There are so many of your favourite designers included and it's a massive honour to have been included amongst them. Click on the link on my sidebar to purchase your copy, and remember, that HUGE discount is only available for the launch weekend so grab it NOW!!!!!! (you can't get much for $2.97 these days so it really is a proper Black Friday weekend bargain).

23 November 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! With Thanksgiving just around the corner in the US and the Autumn leaves falling to the ground here in the UK, the latest Frilly and Funkie challenge hosted by the wonderful Nancy Dynes is called 'Bountiful Harvest'. For this one she wants us all to "create any vintage or shabby chic project celebrating the bounty of the season in the rich hues of autumn."

At the end of the challenge the team will choose their top four picks. Our first place winner will be invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie. Three additional talented participants will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and adheres to the challenge guidelines will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

For me the bounty of this season comes from the array of trees in the park where we walk our dog. After the acorns and conkers have fallen and the berries have all been picked, it's the turn of the leaves to take centre stage; the rich hues dress the branches (and then the floor!) bringing much needed colour to the rapidly shortening days. Hopefully you'll see all of this captured in my card.

I've used Tim Holtz 'Leaf Prints' stamp set extensively for this, firstly in the background layers as a paint resist, then for the second Crushed Olive background with simple inky stamping, and finally for the embossed centrepiece. Contrasting the earthy layers was important for this design; kraft card blended with shades of brown and blue paint made the yellows, reds and greens really pop the way they do against autumnal skies. I also found a coordinating scrap of blue leather and piled ink on a piece of gauze for added texture.

The bottom leafy layer is so easy to achieve - just smoosh the four red Distress Paints on your craft mat, press the leaf stamps into it and stamp onto plain white card. Then when dry spritz over with the Distress Spray Stains and hey presto! autumn has arrived! I added a small sprinkle of black embossing powder to the final layer of heated gold embossing powder to get the aged look before pressing another of those gorgeous leaf shapes into it (cover the stamp in black archival ink first to make the final image stand out even more). The middle layer is a simple case of mopping up the remaining Distress Spray Stains with white card and stamping some of the leaves with Distress Inks (a touch of spritz and flick with the water makes it look as weather-beaten as me after my dog walks!!!)

So that's my contribution to the Design Team's inspiration for our 'Bountiful Harvest' challenge. Make sure you hop on over to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to see the other fabulous makes from my super talented teamies and find out how they've celebrated this season, by which time I'm sure you'll be ready to join in the fun with us and of course be in with a chance to win! For now take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

15 November 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! With having a Veterans Sale over the weekend, Linda took the understandable decision to delay the latest 'Friday Focus' discount until today. So, at last I'm unveiling my latest tutorial for some of my very favourite paints - Distress Paints from Ranger!!! Linda's got a HUGE deal on them right now with 35% off MSRP!!! You could say she's practically giving them away, but just for a limited time.

To celebrate I'm sharing not one, but TWO ideas/tutorials for festive cards using these little bottles of magic - and hope you can join me over at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog today to find out more. For now have a great week and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

9 November 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! Thank you for the wonderful response to my last post - it's one of my favourite projects to date and I'm thrilled you all seem to agree. Today I'm back as promised for the latest Frilly and Funkie challenge 'What a Mesh!' hosted by the amazing Pamellia Johnson. For this one she would like you to create a vintage or shabby chic project using any type of mesh (crinoline, cheesecloth, tulle, burlap, canvas etc).

At the end of the challenge the team will choose their top four picks. Our first place winner will be invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie. Three additional talented participants will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and adheres to the challenge guidelines will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

I decided to take a different approach to my Christmas cards this year, avoiding the traditional colours where possible and attempting a 'vintage' feel without the use of browns! You'll not be getting a rundown on this card as I've got a step by step tutorial for it coming thisFriday next Tuesday. Needless to say there's mesh involved (I'm sure you can spot the gauze beneath the reindeer) layering and textures.

So that's my contribution to the Funkie side of the Design Team's inspiration for our 'What a Mesh!' challenge. Make sure you hop on over to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to see the other fabulous makes and find out how they've used mesh, by which time I'm sure you'll be ready to join in the fun with us and of course be in with a chance to win!

Thank you for joining me today. Remember I'll be back onFriday next Tuesday with a tutorial for this (and another!) card and some fantastic news if, like me, you're a fan of Distress Paints. And a quick heads up - I'll be back on your screens this coming Sunday with three mixed media shows on Hochandaat 2pm, 5pm and 9pm. Whatever you're up to for the rest of the week have a good one and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

6 November 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! With lots going on here there hasn't been a whole lot of time to share my art on the blog - time to put that right today with my latest canvas using Distress Paints to the max and salvaged finds...

The base of this canvas had a covering of rough texture paste applied unevenly before I started with the paint. It's been a joy learning more about creating depth in colour and pattern with this Seth Apter online course (highly recommended). I took time to get the 12 layers of Distress Paint and gesso - yes, 12!!! - to a place I was happy with, starting (believe it or not) with black and working though to white highlights. Though not immediately apparent, there's almost the entire range of brown and purple shades in there, a couple of which have been used more prominently in the stamping (Ground Espresso) and on the rusty elements (Aged Mahogany and Seedless Preserves).

The lighter Distress Paint colours were also used on some separate paper which was then die cut and layered over similarly cut kraft card, creating dimensional Crocheted Laceonto which I could tie the salvaged rusted pieces. Rust Alcohol Ink and water drips highlighted their design on the finished canvas. The large polished glass stone has been hanging around here forever waiting for a home. This and the smaller glass beads provided a perfect contrast to the aged metal and prompted me to use coordinating burlap string and fuse wire to wrap the metal.

Whilst the stamped numbers from the Tim Holtz Sideshow set added pattern and structure to the design I really wanted something more to add meaning to the finished canvas. Some Remnant Rubs were perfect for the job as they layer beautifully over the most uneven of surfaces and are easily bonded with Matte Distress Collage Medium. Tim is right you know, there really is possibility everywhere...

Hope you've enjoyed seeing my latest canvas. I'm back on Wednesday for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge - hope you can join me for that. Meantime, whatever you're up to this weekend, take care of yourselves. Jenny xxx

26 October 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! I'm back today with a card for the latest Frilly and Funkie challenge 'A Very Vintage Halloween' hosted by the fantastic Zoe Hillman. For this one it's time to get your witches hats on and create a project in a vintage style with a Halloween theme!

At the end of the challenge the team will choose their top four picks. Our first place winner will be invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie. Three additional talented participants will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and adheres to the challenge guidelines will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

I decided to 'pimp the ride' of a witch, adding enough bling to this broom to get it's owner well and truly noticed!!! With tons of texture in the background it's a bit of a twist on Halloween for those of us who are not so much 'in to' the whole ghouls and ghosts thing...

A quick 'how to' for this one - I added Texture Paste to one of Linda's fab jumbo tags, laying paper on top and peeling it off to create a molten look. That was covered in embossing powder and heated to set the texture in place and get it bubbling along the way. A good coat of Distress Paint and it was on to the stamping (flat areas only) with some ledger script. Finally I mixed some Transparent Gloss Texture Paste with a few drops of Archival Reinker and spread it through the mini Pumpkin stencil to create those fabulous fruits beneath the broom.

The broom was constructed by layering together lots of die cut Fall Foliage together. The handle was then wrapped with lots of burlap string, jute twine and bits of thin wire before various Halloween charms were attached using jump rings. You'll notice the charms have a dash of colour added - alcohol inks applied with a paint brush is a great way of doing this.

The new Metallic Sticker Labels are so beautifully detailed and the black background really makes that white writing pop. And of course no Halloween night sky would be complete without some twinkling Mirrored Stars.

So that's my contribution to the collection of 'A Very Vintage Halloween' spooky creations from the Frilly and Funkie Design Team and our very special Guest Designers Annette Green and Sara Emily Barker. Make sure you hop on over to see their fabulous makes and find out which authors captured their imaginations, by which time I'm sure you'll be ready to join in the fun and be in with a chance to win!

Thank you for joining me today. Whatever you're up to for the rest of the week have a good one and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

23 October 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! A while back the amazing Wendy Vecchi shared another of her clever tutorials HERE for a gorgeous project with the look of shattered glass. It gave me an idea for creating a vintage faux crackle background using lots of her yummy designs and products.

This was definitely one of those projects which 'evolved' rather than being 'planned to the end' but it came from the desire to have a translucent crackle base which would allow background stamping to show through clearly (regular crackle paste is opaque so you can't see what's underneath).

Want to know how this canvas came together right? As luck would have it I took photos along the way so here's a handy step by step tutorial for you...

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this latest creation today. There's more to come from my craft room on Wednesday when it's the Funkie side of the Frilly and Funkie DT's turn to provide some vintage Halloween inspiration. Make sure you pop back to see how I've pimped a witch's ride!...

Have a great weekend and whatever you're up to take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

12 October 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! I'm back today with a canvas for the latest Frilly and Funkie challenge 'Author, Author' hosted by the amazing Suzanne Czosek. Here's what she has to say about the theme for this one; "I have a great love for reading and was a permanent fixture at the library growing up. I decided it would be fun to host a challenge inspired by books. There are so many wonderful books that inspire the mind to imagine the worlds created within them. Think fairy tales, mysteries, romances or even science fiction and use that to inspire your art. Your challenge it so create a shabby chic or vintage styled project inspired by a book. Provide an explanation of how the book and author inspired your project."

At the end of the challenge the team will choose their top four picks. Our first place winner will be invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at Frilly and Funkie. Three additional talented participants will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and adheres to the challenge guidelines will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

This canvas is based on a smaller card I made for a recent Frilly and FunkieSaturday Step by Step. Increasing the size of the project gave me chance to add more to the design, inspired by the book 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
A story I remember from my childhood, it tells the tale of an orphaned child who has to learn to adjust to a completely new way of life, helped by those around her. She in turn becomes instrumental in helping her cousin regain his physical strength, as they and their friend spend time in the same walled garden that had been the scene of such tragedy many years before.

As mentioned previously, the tutorial for the majority of this canvas can be found in the Step by Step. You'll notice the watering can has been given a Brushed Pewter finish and there are black glossy wildflowers to represent the tragedies that befell some of the characters in the book. In a nod to the whole theme of hope and rejuvenation I included the word 'believe' and butterflies, all covered in red Deco Sheet (it's not just for Christmas!)

So that's my contribution to the collection of 'Author, Author' literary inspired creations from the Frilly and Funkie Design Team and our very special Guest Designers Autumn Clark and Mary Elizabeth Searcy. Make sure you hop on over to see their fabulous makes and find out which authors captured their imaginations, by which time I'm sure you'll be ready to join in the fun and be in with a chance to win!

Thank you for joining me today. Whatever you're up to for the rest of the week have a good one and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

11 October 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! I'm back from another fun day on Hochanda at the weekend - thank you to everyone who watched sent messages of support - it is great to know there are people out there on the other side of the camera!!! And whilst absent from blogland I'm thrilled to say my last project has won a bunch of awards! Here's what the finished steampunk canvas looked like;

When you check out the high standard of the entries and my fellow award winners you'll see why it's so gratifying to have been picked out to feature alongside them. Thank you so much to all the hard working design teams behind each of these challenges - you share so much incredible inspiration and give us all something to aim for every month.

I'll be back tomorrow with the latest of my own Design Team projects, this time for the current Frilly and Funkie challenge, so make sure you join me here for that. In the meantime take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx

30 September 2016

Hi everyone and welcome! A few weeks back Kay Halliwell-Sutton launched IndigoBlu's new Steampunkesque collection featuring a dedicated set of stamps, mixed media paper pad and stencils. After turning around the TV samples I got the germ of an idea that was going to require more time to complete (you know, one of those that sits in your head and refuses to go despite all the other deadlines you have to meet!) There was also added inspiration from a purchase of some stylish, tarnished cutlery at Retford's weekly vintage market and a discovery of small frames ideal for altering. So finally, letting my imagination take flight so to speak, I came up with this altered canvas...

You'll see the A4 canvas background has been stencilled with lots of cogs - Super Thick Slap It On is ideal for this as it dries raised and solid, so perfect for adding layers of paint (and abuse in the form of sandpaper!) I also added a rough layer of Fine Modelling Paste to the frame before sticking it firmly to the canvas. Many, many layers of IndigoBlu Matte and Metallic paints followed until I got the look I was happy with.

The central panel has a built up corrugated built up base showing glimpses of the deep base colours that underpin the paler and metallic layers on top. I also added a torn book page, altered with gesso, paint, heat embossed stamping and more of that cog stencilling. A little Rust alcohol ink across the canvas and frame helped to age it all and added lowlights to the spoon. That was wrapped with a combination of coloured burlap string and various wires to create a 'body', with the colours then echoed in the wings. Anyone who came along to the Make n Takes at Ally Pally will recognise the use of the Wild Butterflies stencil with Super Thick Slap It On and silver Luscious pigment powder. By using them on transparent modelling film I was able to add a mix of Raven Black IndigoBlu metallic paint and more of those Luscious pigment powders to get the perfect match of colours to the body binding on the reverse. To finish a scattering of old watch parts was used to enhance the design.

Thanks for joining me today. I hope you feel inspired to get creative and realise some of those arty ideas that have been on your mind. With the weekend fast approaching have a great one and take care of yourselves. Jenny xxx